Fancy some sweets?

I love to bake. If you don't (or are too busy), let me do it for you! Everything is individually custom-made upon your order with top-quality ingredients and no preservatives. Featured and seasonal items are described below and you can browse the categories and list to the right for my standard offerings. Place an order by emailing me at annalisasfancy@gmail.com. I prefer a 2-day advance notice, but let me know if you have a last-minute need and I'll see what I can do. Orders can be picked up at my home or delivered within most areas of Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk for an additional $5. If you attend Colonial Baptist Church, we can arrange a drop-off at a service. Subscribe to my blog to hear about new items!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Holiday Party Desserts

A few steps up from cookies and quickbreads, these desserts are designed for your special occasions. 

We have a new flavor of cheesecake (but don't forget about the Chocolate Orange Cheesecake...): Caramel Macadamia Cheesecake. It's a traditional graham cracker crust with a layer of caramel and macadamias underneath the classic cheesecake. $30/each.

And TWO new tarts! First, the Almond and Cranberry Curd Tart. It's my usual buttery tart crust topped first with a creamy white almond layer then with beautiful red cranberry curd. All the brightness of the cranberries in a velvety curd tempered by the sweet almond. This one's special. $25/each.

Then, Walnut Turtle Tart. It's just like it sounds: tart shell, a bittersweet chocolate layer, then glazed walnuts. Like a giant grown-up turtle candy. $25/each.


Friday, November 21, 2008

It's Time!

The Holiday Season is here and I'll just keep it simple with a list of what's available. Our Thanksgiving/Christmas offerings are:

Peppermint Pinwheel Sugar Cookies $12/dozen
Sparkling Shortbread Star Cookies $13/dozen
Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies $14/dozen
Cranberry Orange Nut Bread $13/loaf
Pumpkin Bread $10/loaf
Eggnog Bread $11/loaf
Chocolate Pecan Tart $20/each
Cranberry Swirl Coffeecake $16/each
Pumpkin Coffeecake with Brown Butter Icing $16/each

Gift Packages:
Sugar & Spice: 1 dozen chocolate gingerbread cookies, 1 dozen shortbread stars and 1 loaf of pumpkin bread. $30/each
Red Cheer: 1 dozen peppermint pinwheels, 1 dozen shortbread stars and 1 loaf of cranberry bread. $30/each
Kitchen Sink: 1 dozen each of the peppermint pinwheels, shortbread stars and chocolate gingerbread cookies and 1 mini loaf each of the cranberry nut bread, pumpkin bread and eggnog bread. $45/each

As if that's not enough (I can't help myself--Christmas food is so good!), I'm working on a new cheesecake and a new tart that will be great for any holiday parties. Stay tuned!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Pumpkin Fix

I have three pumpkin-flavored items to enjoy in the throws of autumn. A good, moist classic loaf of pumpkin bread for $10/loaf or $18 for 2 loaves. Take it up a notch and get the pumpkin cupcakes iced with cream cheese frosting at $15/dozen. Lastly, my favorite is pumpkin bread pudding, with raisins and a homemade caramel sauce to drizzle on top. A pan serves 4-6 at $18.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Spiced Honey Cake with Caramelized Pear Topping


A lot of people are eating honey cakes about now because it's traditional fare for the Jewish New Year. All that to say that if I was Jewish I would have a good excuse for making and eating this cake today. But I'm not and I don't. So here are my (lesser) excuses: it's warmly spicy, crazy moist, has lots of honey flavor and melds perfectly with the soft, oven-caramelized pear slices on top. And the (completely Gentile) Product Development Dept. ate two pieces, so apparently I was right in thinking that honey cake is not just for Rosh Hashanah after all. $19/each.  

Chocolate Bit Cookies

For the chocolate lovers: tiny chocolate shortbread rounds with bittersweet chocolate bits baked in. Buttery, sandy chocolate with pockets of soft melting chocolate. Do not underestimate these cookies--you can eat a dozen between blinks. $12/dozen.

Lower your cholesterol without the glop!

Oatmeal weather is coming and I have two recipes to share that will jazz it up a bit. Sometimes the bowl of warm, sugary glop will do, but did you know about oatmeal's other sides? One is not even remotely slimy, the other you eat with a fork! So, in the name of lowering cholesterol, thriftiness, and perfect cold-weather food, here are the recipes for: Baked Oatmeal and Oatmeal Terrine.

Baked Oatmeal
If you've never had toasted oats, you'll be amazed by the flavor. We eat it dished out into a bowl with a little milk poured on top. It keeps for about 2 days at room temp--I've tried refrigerating it and it gets tough and since everything's baked, it should be fine.

3 Tbs. butter, melted and cooled for about 10 minutes
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3-1/2 cup raisins
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together the first 5 ingredients until well-blended, then whisk in the baking powder. You will probably have very small lumps still (I always do), but just get it as smooth as you can. Dump in the raisins and oats and mix until the oats are well-coated and the raisins evenly distributed. Spread evenly into an ungreased pie dish (or a cake pan would probably work) and sprinkle the cinnamon over the top. Bake for 30 minutes and let cool for about 5 minutes before eating.


Oatmeal Terrine
My husband and I went back to Boston for our fifth anniversary last year and ate breakfast at a great bakery there a few times. That's where we had "oatmeal terrine" for the first time, and this is my attempt at re-creating it. The bakery's version had fresh blueberries and strawberries and almonds in it. My latest (fall-ish) rendition has dried cherries and cranberries with walnuts. So, obviously, feel free to improvise with whatever mix of fresh and dried fruit you have on hand. It keeps great in the fridge and is a wonderful quick breakfast to have on hand--one batch lasts the two of us for the good part of a week.

3 cups liquid (soymilk, milk, or a mixture of milk and water)
2 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2-1 cup dried or fresh fruit
1/4-1/3  cup nuts (toast these by tossing them in a pan into a 350 oven for 5-10 minutes until just starting to smell and turn golden--watch them, they go fast!)

Bring milk/water and salt to a boil. Add the oats and stir in. Cook, over medium heat until liquid is fully absorbed and mixture is very thick (thicker than normal oatmeal). Take off of the heat and mix in the sugar, vanilla and fruit. Let it cool for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, line a loaf pan or cake pan with plastic wrap with some extra plastic wrap hanging over the sides. When oatmeal mixture has cooled, spread it into the prepared pan and then press the toasted nuts evenly over the top. Bring the edges of the plastic wrap over top of the oatmeal to cover it and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. After it has chilled, transfer the oatmeal to a plate (or just lift it out of the pan and slice on the wrap). We eat it slices in pie-shaped wedges and drizzled with some honey. 

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake



I saw this recipe several weeks ago and immediately knew its fate as my husband's birthday cake. Happy birthday indeed. We're still celebrating, piece by piece... It's two layers of a mild, moist chocolate cake with a peanut-butter cream cheese frosting between and covering the layers. Then, it's topped with a milk chocolate ganache. Advisory: eat only when milk is readily available. $25/ea.